Hollywood actor James Earl Jones turned 93 on Jan. 17, and many fans seem to be surprised to learn that the Mississippi native overcame a speech impediment as he embarked on his legendary career.
Jones was born in Arkabutla, Mississippi, and when he was 5, he went to live in Michigan on his grandparents’ farm. He stuttered so severely that he barely spoke until an English teacher noticed he had a talent for writing and poetry in high school. The teacher began having Jones recite poetry in front of his classmates, which helped him overcome his speech impediment.
During an appearance on “The Charlie Rose Show” in 1993, Jones said he thought his stuttering began after he arrived in Michigan after he imitated a relative who stammered.
“When I arrived in Michigan,” said Jones. “It’s very complex. … Stuttering is not dissimilar from … I guess medically from petite mild epilepsy. Things trip in the brain so that the speech mechanism trips over itself. But I used to imitate Uncle Randy, Duke we called him, was a stutterer for a while. He also had petite mild epilepsy. I used to imitate him, mock him we used to say, and so in a way, I was cursed for mocking him.”
“Then when my own trauma set in,” he continued. “This was sitting there waiting for me like, ‘You want a place to hide? Yeah, here it is.'”
Jones added that wanting to express himself but not being able to speak made him appreciate people who could, and his “appreciation for expression” helped to shape him as an actor.
“You have your feelings, convictions, feelings that you want to share, and so as an actor, I ended up being able to share those spoken through other characters, you know,” he explained.
Jones went on to say that he learned to speak through writing and reciting poetry in high school with his teacher, Donald Crouch, after remaining mostly silent for nearly eight years.
“I learned to speak through reading my own poetry and also other poetry,” he recalled. “I wrote this ode based heavily on Longfellow who, who based his on the Finlandia in the epics, you know, Hiawatha and the female and the old grapefruit are very strongly connected rhythmically. And Donald said, ‘Jim, I don’t believe you, this poem is so good, I don’t believe you wrote it. I’m accusing you of plagiarism and the only way you can prove you wrote it is to get in front of the class and recite it from memory.'”
James Earl Jones (known for his incredible talent and iconic voice) suffered stuttering as a child.
— ✨Hollywood Yesterday✨ (@HollywoodYeste1) January 17, 2024
"One of the hardest things in life is having words in your heart that you can't utter." ~ James Earl Jones
Pictured: On the set of The Sandlot (1993) pic.twitter.com/U5ZuAjkRSU
Rose noted that Jones was 14 at the time, and the “Star Wars” actor added that while he did speak sometimes, he “didn’t make sense” and mostly talked to his dog.
“I had not really addressed a language before, since since childhood,” he continued. “I got up and recited it word for word, and we were both shocked and. But we also realized we had a way for me to regain the power of speech through reading poetry. Like song, poetry is rhythmic, and a lot of stutterers don’t stutter when they sing.”
Jones added that the stammer is “always there,” and he sometimes has to alter scripts if a sentence has more than three words in a row that begin with vowels. He went on to study drama at the University of Michigan before starring in a local production of “Othello.”
Jones recalled struggling with his stutter during his first Broadway play and during his acceptance speech after winning his first Tony Award for “The Great White Hope.” He said he would get emotional or get angry out of frustration, causing him to stammer more. Jones also starred in the film version of “The Great White Hope.” He won a Golden Globe Award for his performance and went on to have an illustrious film career.
The beloved actor starred in “Conan the Barbarian” in 1982, and his distinctive voice would become known to millions as Darth Vader in the “Star Wars” films. Jones also starred in more than 75 movies including “Patriot Games,” “Coming to America” and “Field of Dreams.” He is also known as the voice of Mufasa in “The Lion King.”
In the 2014 film “The Angriest Man In Brooklyn,” Jones played a stuttering salesman working at an electronic store. He received an honorary Oscar in 2011 and has since won three Emmy Awards throughout his iconic career.
